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There is no reason why everyone should try this.

I think I have a little bit of a compulsion. I can't do any thing in the morning until I brush my teeth, absolutely nothing. I have this fear that I won't be ready for the day until I have gone through my oral hygiene routine.So when I saw the viral advert for the 'Orabrush' on the Internet was immediately curious. Never did try to get me to buy some immediately but I resisted until I saw a pop-up at my local Boots store well I decided to get one as an experiment.As you can see from the picture of the product isn't too dissimilar to the toothbrush with a long rubberised grip handle and a flat head at the top. The head comprises of two parts. A large bed of soft bristles and at the very tip a piece of rubbery material not too dissimilar to the window cleaner. The way you use it is that you spend a minute or so loving all over your tongue with the little bristles doing their job and then at the end scrape down using the top of the brush to remove everything that you have dislodged.In the past I would have used a toothbrush but after one try of this I was sold. You see, my downfall is that I like a lot of coffee and for regular drinkers you will know that if you're not careful you can get an accumulation of mustard coloured mat on your tongue. This makes me very self-conscious but after one try with the 'Orabrush' and it was all gone.While wife isn't to impressed with it as there are times when I can be a bit overzealous and stimulate my gag reflex which I have to admit sounds horrible but there is nothing that's going to stop me from having this is part of my daily routine.

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For such a low price this is a great product and it works!

I remember finding out about Orabrush through one of YouTube's featured videos, and because other people seemed to think it was good, I decided to take up their offer of 'Your first Orabrush Free!' (I only had to pay shipping from the states).

What it does is removes bacteria from your tongue, and you can see the difference instantly! If you look in the mirror, you may be able to see some white/yellow furry stuff on your tongue. This is bacteria and the Orabrush, with its super-soft bristles gets rid of most of the bacteria and you're left with a cleaner mouth and better overall hygiene.

There's really not much to it, you just brush your tongue! (sounds strange, doesn't it?) I just got back from the dentist and he said I had the cleanest mouth he'd seen all day, so I have to put some of that down to the Orabrush and I recommend it to anyone! It also freshens your breath, as this is the bacteria that causes 90% of bad breath.

The only disadvantage is that it may be hard to clean all areas, and it doesn't completely get rid of the bacteria (but gets rid of most).

And if you don't want to order online, they sell them at most Boots high street shops.

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Well worth the money

I first came across the "Ora Brush" through it's viral advertising campaign, which has had millions of views on Youtube, as well as it's banners on certain websites. I thought I had everything covered on the dental front - electric tootbrush, dental floss, mouthwash, whitening polish; until I came across a video on Youtube with millions of hits, on a brush for your.... Tongue?!

Now, with the highly Americanised, over enthusiastic tone of the Ad, I did enter this with more than just a hint of scepticism. "You're tongue is essentially a giant sponge, holding 90% of the bacteria in your mouth!", followed by "Normal tongue cleaners simply scrape over the tongue and don't actually clean it", along with a somewhat disgusting breath test you can try using the back of a spoon, scraping your tongue with it and smelling it to check your breath (needless to say I didn't want to try this). However, given the video was so popular, and the brush has had such widespread rave reviews, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. Afterall, dental hygiene is quite important!

What exactly is an Ora Brush?

With the bottom half looking like a regular, manual toothbrush, and the top half resembling a hammerhead shark (it could just be my imagination), if you came across one of these in your bathroom, it may leave you feeling perplexed.

The idea of Ora brush is that after brushing/flossing, you use it to clean the tongue, which is supposed to relieve your mouth of bacteria and possible bad breath which is said to be attributed to the debris on your tongue. The bristles are designed to work into the grooves of your tongue, whilst the scraper then collects it all and the results are plain to see on the brush.

The brush contains plastic bristles that are very soft to the touch, and pressing them into your hand just proves this as they leave no indentation, therefore are also gentle on the tongue. Behind the bristles, is the scraper part which is a lot firmer, and acts as the barrier to keep all the debris on the brush, and also make sure it is all caught, to give a good clean.

Is it effective?

Now this may not be the most exciting gadget one can own, however I was quite intrigued to try it once it had arrived. Following the advice that your tongue must be wet first (either with a swill of water before hand, or just after mouthwash), I gave it a try.

I found that it was a little difficult to thoroughly clean the tongue, as the bristles aren't really tough enough to collect everything off, and you do need to use the scraper part to really clean all areas. It can also be a little difficult - given if you try and clean the back part of your tongue. However in the areas which you can reach, the Ora brush really does give your tongue a thorough good clean.

Some users on the Ora Brush website also claimed that using the Ora Brush enhanced their sense of taste. This is not something I personally experienced, however without a doubt my mouth feels very, very clean after using it. It also makes my tongue look very clean and fresh in appearance.

The real proof as they say "is in the pudding". After using the Ora brush as stated, I noticed (as promised on the adverts) that it did remove an awful lot of horrible stuff from my tongue. Somewhat disgusting maybe, but not half as disgusting as if it had been left on my tongue if I hadn't of used my Ora brush! Even though I use a myriad of dental products, it really does prove that the tongue certainly holds a lot of bacteria which even toothpaste, flossing and mouthwash cannot remove on it's own.

Is it a worthy purchase?

Well in my opinion, anything which contributes towards good dental hygiene and comes at an affordable price certainly gets my vote. Although it will never be as important as a toothbrush, I believe that anything which can eradicate bacteria from the mouth is a worthy purchase. Granted, the design could perhaps be improved so that the brush gives a more effective clean, or even has a wider surface area to make it easier for the user. However, as it stands I think the Ora Brush is a fantastic device and certainly improves the appearance of the tongue if nothing else.

As it is of a similar shape and weight to a manual toothbrush, it is also ideal for travelling with. This means you can take it on holiday, or wherever you are going whereby you want to have really fresh breath and a healthy feeling mouth.

It may not be terribly exciting, or something you would want to share with your neighbours.... but hey, it's something which will get rid of bacteria, and help keep your breath fresh. All good things!

Where can I get it?

I bought my Ora-Brush from Amazon, and they generally retail at between £4-£5. Mine cost £1.23 with the leftovers of my Dooyoo voucher I won at Christmas (absolute bargain!). There are also a few other pharmacy websites which sell it.

I have had a look for it in stores, and noticed my local boots do sell Ora Brushes in the dental section, but are stocked on the bottom shelf, hardly noticeable so it's definitely worth having a good scour for one if you don't wish to purchase it online.

You can buy it in either red or blue, and it comes in clear packaging, similar to when you buy a manual toothbrush.

Overall Opinion

I am glad I came across the Ora Brush, as for me it's another step towards a great, clean feeling mouth. It's not something which requires a great deal of effort, and takes less time to do than brushing itself, however after seeing it's effects I now consider it an important part of my dental routine. It can be a little tricky to clean every part of the tongue, and the bristles themselves aren't fantastically effective - but overall, the brush does work and therefore I feel it's value for money. The recommendation is to use the Ora brush morning and night, however I have found 2-3 times a week is adequate, given I do use so many products as it is!

The Ora brush is something which will surprise you, no matter how clean you keep your teeth, and how clean you think your mouth is. It is a product which will genuinely make a difference to the appearance and feel of your mouth, and won't break the bank in doing so. Incase you haven't already guessed, I'm a convert!

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Solves Problems with Bad Breath

A friend of mine recommended that I buy the product to improve the smell of my breath. I was reluctant at first but then I decided to buy it since it cost less than £5. In many cases bad breath occurs because the tongue is not properly cleaned. This product claims to remove bacteria from the tongue which causes unpleasant smells. After using it for one week the smell of my breath improved considerably. The instructions in the guide were easy to follow. I used the bristles to remove any bacteria on my tongue and the scraper to get it out of my mouth. The bristles were soft so they did not hurt my tongue. I could see that it working because I got rid off a lot of white yucky stuff that was on my tongue. My tongue was now pinker and smoother. I was suprised that although I used it for six months the bristles did not droop. I only have to buy one twice a year so it is quite cheap. I highly recommend it because it works.

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Tongue cleaner

I'm a bit obsessed with dental hygiene and have quite a few products that I make use of, electric toothbrush, floss and tape for inbetween my teeth and mouth wash as well and now I also have a Orabrush Tongue Cleaner for making sure that my tongue is free from germs and bacteria that may cause bad breath.

It is not something I use everyday however it is a product that I would use after a heavy night out or if I have eaten spicey food. It has very short and sharp bristles on it however what you would think might be quite painful to use is actually quite pleasant when you actually use it on your tongue, on the top side there is a scraper as well for removing anything that the brush has left behind.

I find it comfortable to use even at the back of the tongue, then again I do not really have a gag reflex which makes cleaning easier and also makes me popular with the boys :). It has an easy grip handle and the head is about the right size I reckon even if you have a small mouth.

I paid just under a fiver for mine and given that I do not use it more than once or twice a week I expect to get a lot of use out of it and it is a nice addition to my dental hygiene regime.

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It's pretty good, but it's probably not for me.

I don't suffer badly with a furry tongue or bad breath (as far as I know!) but this tongue scraper intrigued me anyway, and I am always looking for ways to improve my oral health.

The OraBrush promises to give fresh breath and a fresher feel in the mouth for up to 12 hours by removing bacteria from the tongue, which causes 90 per cent of bad breath. The blurb on Amazon says: 'OraBrush is the only tongue cleaner that will clean deep into the soft crevices of the tongue, to pull out the bad breath-causing bacteria'.

The brush looks and feels a bit scary at first, with lots of tiny but very firm and slightly sharp bristles, but when it's being used it feels very gentle and doesn't hurt at all. The scraper at the top of the brush is useful to remove anything that you've scraped off. After use my tongue looks a lot cleaner and is a fresh pink shade rather than a mottled pink/yellow shade! It doesn't particularly feel cleaner though.

Unfortunately I think I must have quite a strong gag reflex as I can't get very far back with this without retching, and for doing the very back of my tongue a toothbrush seems more effective.

I think if you have a particular problem with bad breath then this is probably a good investment, and certainly it looks to be one of the best tongue scrapers out there at quite a low price. However I'm not sure it's necessary if you don't have that problem, and I doubt I'll replace mine at the end of six months.

The OraBrush has an RRP of £4.99 and can be bought at a slightly reduced price of £4.39 from Amazon.co.uk. It is recommended that you get a new one every six months so this will really only cost you less than ten pound a year. Which I think is worth it for fresh breath!